All of the Lights (Co-Written with Armin Its A ThugLife)
by This Coffee Tastes Like Crap
Summary: Ushio Okazaki has grown into a fine, capable young lady who cares for the Miyazawa Yakuza in Yukine's place. Her friend, the ever broody Touyomo Youhei thinks she's overworked (unless it's him she's nursing). However Hikarizaka's lights have been slowly dwindling due to the crime running rampant through the city, and patching others up may be the least-or most-of her problems.
1. Chapter 1

All done!" Ushio said, discarding the used bandages.

Takehiro Murozono, one of the many members of the Miyazawa crime syndicate, laughed heartily. "Perfect as always!" he remarked with a grin, "Just like old Yukine!"

Ushio Okazaki blushed, looking down. "I-I wouldn't say _perfect_ —"

Takehiro was already halfway out the window. "Say hi to Touyomo for me!" he said, diving out the window.

The girl sighed as she cleaned up the desk. The Miyazawas had grown since her papa's time, and it was a full blown yakuza—she likes to think of them as vigilantes though, because they only target other yakuzas who were inhuman and have a strict honor code set in place by Kazuto himself.

That didn't mean that they didn't get into fights often…

When Yukine Miyazawa ended up graduating, the second library became deserted until Ushio's father had shown it to her.

 _"_ _A friend of mine practically lived in here," he explained, smiling sadly. "She was part of a gang, and she'd always patch up their wounds and feed people coffee."_

 _"_ _That's…interesting," Ushio said as she looked through the room. There were old tapes and books everywhere—and a coffee machine sat unused on the desk._

 _"_ _I want to do that too."_

 _Her father stared at her. "W-what!?"_

 _"_ _I want to help the Miyazawas," she explained, "the way your friend did."_

 _He looked like he wanted to protest, but then sighed. "You have your mother's caring heart," he said quietly, "but I don't want you to get hurt…"_

 _"_ _I'll learn to defend myself!" She said, looking up at her father determinedly. "I just want to help…"_

 _"_ _Well…" her father gave a defeated sigh. "Fine…it's been a long while since I've seen Yukine-kun anyway…"_

 _"_ _Thank you papa!" she said excitedly as she kissed his cheek, "I'll be careful, I promise!"_

 _"_ _It's not a done deal yet," he muttered, "you don't even know if she'll accept…"_

Much to her father's dismay, she did.

The sound of a bell ringing knocked Ushio out of her thoughts. "Right," she said, "I need to go…"

Right as she said that, the door burst open, and Touyomo Sunohara came in, dark and brooding as ever. "Hi," he said, "the bell rang."

Ushio couldn't help but giggle at her friend's stoic nature—it was the polar opposite of his dad Uncle Youhei, but his mother was a little withdrawn.

"Yes it did," Ushio replied, gathering up her stuff. "Another four came in today."

Touyomo's eyebrow twitched. " _Four_?" he asked incredulously, "They're overworking you."

"I'm _fine_ ," she replied, "four isn't that many, and you know it."

The boy huffed in annoyance. "So what?" he muttered, "I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

"Yes Papa Touyomo."

His eyebrow twitched again. "Don't call me that."

Ushio laughed again as they made their way to their class. They happened to be in the same one, and that relieved her greatly—she was impossibly shy and didn't really know how to talk to people who didn't look like they were about to kill her (as weird as it sounds). She felt the most comfortable around intimidating, murderous-looking people, and people who were actually normal kind of scared her.

She knew that's not how it's supposed to work, but if it isn't broken then why fix it?

"Touyomo-kun!" an oversweet voice called from across the classroom, making Ushio flinch.

Kyoya Fujibayashi sashayed over to the two of them, though she largely ignored Ushio. "Hi," she said, flipping her hair and batting her eyelashes at Touyomo.

Touyomo sighed. "Fujibayashi-san," he said formally.

Kyoya huffed. "It's Kyoya-kun!" she insisted, "We're familiar with each other, right?"

"I never said that."

Ushio giggled, which made Kyoya turn a wrath-filled gaze onto her. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," she said flippantly, setting her things down on her desk and sitting. "You should get to your seat—the teacher's coming."

Kyoya looked like she was about to insult her, but then said teacher walked into the classroom.

"Kiritsu!" he called out, causing all of the students to stand.

"Rei," he said, and all of the students bowed.

"Chakuseki." He finished, and all of the students took their seats.

The class was rather uneventful, and Ushio noticed that she was working really hard to keep her eyes open. When it finally ended, Touyomo had to nudge her awake.

"I knew you were being overworked," he muttered as Ushio yawned, "It's a good thing it's the end of the day."

Ushio nodded, smiling guiltily. "I guess I need to learn how to increase my stamina so I don't fall asleep, huh?"

Touyomo let out a sigh. "What you need is rest," he replied, "and a decent vacation."

"What's this about a vacation?" Kyoya asked, appearing from seemingly nowhere. "I hope you're inviting me!"

"I'm not," Touyomo replied bluntly.

"Touyomo," Ushio chided, "don't be so rude!"

Touyomo merely rolled his eyes.

"I-I should get going," Ushio said, standing hastily and grabbing her things as Kyoya continued to stab her with her gaze.

"I'll walk you home," Touyomo stated casually.

Ushio blushed. "I-It's fine, really!" she replied, "I-I can't inconvenience you like that…"

"With all of these gangs acting stupid?" he challenged, "There's no way that I'm letting you walk home alone."

The girl bit her lip. He was right—the crime rate had spiked drastically since the passing of Touyomo's mother, a very well-known and capable policewoman and fighter. It was the reason for Touyomo's broodiness, but he had opened up considerably to Ushio because she had gone through something similar—though her mother died through childbirth, she was still gone, and that's what brought them together as best friends.

Kyoya's eyebrow twitched. "I should get going as well," she said, "I actually have a life that doesn't revolve around that stupid library."

"H-have a good day!" Ushio said cheerfully as she physically restrained Touyomo from attacking Kyoya.

She merely huffed and left, leaving a fuming Touyomo behind.

"You shouldn't put up with her bullshit," he muttered, "now unhand me—your grip is like a fucking viper's."

"Are you going to chase after her?" Ushio asked.

"No."

"Are you going to stop cursing?"

"…no."

Ushio let go, and Touyomo stumbled forwards a bit. "You're too strong for your size," he mumbled, holding his arms. "I swear you look like a noodle but are as strong as steel."

She replied with a smile. "I'm a steel noodle!"

Touyomo put a hand over his mouth, but the laughter escaped anyway. "Okay," he said, trying and failing to control himself. "Let's just go with that…"

It made Ushio's heart swell whenever she gets Touyomo to laugh. He does it so rarely that she's learned to cherish it—especially when she was laughing with (or at) her. It's almost like it's something only for her, and it made her feel special.

"Alright noodle of steel," Touyomo said after his fit of laughter passed, "let's head home."

Ushio nodded happily and they both left.


	2. Chapter 2

"Damn daylight savings time…" Touyomo muttered as Ushio and he walked home.

Ushio smiled at his foul language. "Fall Back is my favorite time of the year," she replied, looking at the sky. "You can see the lights a lot better in the dark…"

However as she craned her neck up to the sky she noticed only a few lights floating by, a far cry from the millions that used to bathe the city in a beautiful myriad of colors.

"…Touyomo?"

Her best friend stopped and looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Something wrong?"

The brunette girl looked down at the ground, suddenly uncomfortable with the darkening sky.

"…are you happy?"

Touyomo stared at her for a moment, and then sighed. "…I'm alright."

They continued on their way, Ushio staring down at the ground instead of up at the lights.

"Nobody seems truly happy anymore…" she whispered.

"Who would?" Touyomo, still somehow hearing her, asked. "With how much crime there is here in the city, there's no way you can be happy—people are dying left and right. I'll be walking you home from now on, by the way," he added. "It's not safe out here alone."

 _We're fine now_ , Ushio thought.

Right as that thought passed her mind, the world took her up on her jinx as gunshots suddenly rang out through the neighborhood.

"Shit," Touyomo cursed, grabbing Ushio's hand and breaking into a sprint. "Damn it, why _now_!?"

One of the sources of the shots darted out from an alleyway, barging right into Ushio.

"A— _augh_!" she shouted as she met the unforgiving pavement with a thud. The man rolled off pointed his gun at her.

"Y-you—" he didn't have a chance to finish as a bullet ripped through his skull, blood spraying all over the poor brunette.

" _Ushio!_ " Touyomo shouted, diving for her as more bullets whizzed by.

Two more men ran out of the alleyway, and Touyomo cursed. "We need to go. Now."

"Well well well," one of the men said as he advanced towards the the two, "Looks like we've got ourselves a little treat!"

Before either could react, Touyomo was on the ground, clutching his leg. " _Shit!_ "

"Don't want you to try to play the hero!" The other laughed, "Now, don't you move miss. I promise you'll be rewarded for being a good girl…"

Ushio's mind was whizzing at a million miles per hour. She couldn't move or else they might shoot Touyomo again—but she couldn't just sit there helplessly!

…or _can_ she…?

"P-please…" she whispered, "d…don't hurt me…"

She kept her eyes on the two men, but she saw the gun in her peripheral vision—she just had to wait for the right moment…

"It'll only hurt if you let it!" the first man replied, a hand moving down to his pants.

Suddenly she dove for the gun and shot three times, two shots missing. The third, however, hit the first man in the shoulder, causing him to cry out and fall to the floor.

"You _bitch_!" the second man shouted, firing randomly. She barely dodged, but when she fired all she got was a disappointing _click_.

"Man…" she muttered, tossing the gun at the man. It threw him off as it hit him right in the head, but another shot hit Touyomo just as he began to get up.

All she could see was red.

The man who was killed earlier had a pocket knife poking out of his pocket, and she grabbed it and lunged directly at the man with a savage scream. The man, who had just got his bearings, tried to shoot, only to get the same disappointing _click_ that Ushio got. Before he could react, the knife sliced right through his throat, causing more blood to spray all over Ushio's uniform.

The man who got shot in the arm saw her turn on him and screamed in a quite unmanly way.

"F-f-fuck this shit!" he screamed as he sprinted back into the alleyway. Ushio had half a mind to give chase, but she reminded herself that Touyomo needed medical attention.

"T-Touyomo!" she cried as she ran back to her best friend, who had propped himself up on the streetlight.

"W…what the hell was _that_!?" he demanded, eyes wide with fear. "You…you…."

"Don't worry about it," she murmured, pulling out her cell phone. "We need to call an ambulance."

Before she could even dial the number, however, sirens suddenly blared all around them as an ambulance as well as a few cop cars pulled up the street. Confused, Ushio looked around before she noticed Kyoya standing nearby, phone in hand and eyes wide with shock.

"What the actual hell _was_ that!?"

Ushio scratched the back of her head, stopping when she realized that her hands were still bloody. "They hurt Touyomo…so I hurt them."

Kyoya backed away from the ambulance Ushio was sitting in, eyes wide. "You…you tore out that guy's throat!"

The brunette laughed. "He deserved it! It's alright now though, they say Touyomo will recover quickly."

"…you just killed a man."

Ushio merely shrugged.

"You—you don't have _anything_ to say for yourself?!" Kyoya demanded, "You _killed_ someone!"

"Well…" Ushio thought for a moment. "I guess I should say thank you."

Kyoya stared at her, jaw wide open. "…why…?"

"Touyomo might have died before the ambulance got here if I called," the brunette explained with a smile, "but since you called ahead of time he's going to be okay. So thank you."

Ushio beamed up at her, and Kyoya flinched.

"Miss Okazaki?" A police officer interrupted, stepping up to the two girls. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"Of course!" she replied happily, "See, what happened was—"

" ** _USHIO!_** "

The sound of her father's voice made her sit up immediately.

Tomoya Okazaki shoved the officer out of the way and gasped, tears falling down his face. "W-what _happened_!? Y-you're—are you—why—?!"

"I'm fine papa, really!" Ushio said happily, smiling and raising her hands in an attempt to calm her father down. "I just killed someone to protect Touyomo!"

Her father looked like he was starting to hyperventilate. "You did **_WHAT!?_** "

Okay _that_ could have been phrased better…"I-it was for Touyomo…" she repeated.

Tomoya took a deep breath and exhaled, putting a hand to his face. "…are you alright?"

Ushio nodded vigorously.

"…if you say so…" he relented, "But don't you _ever,_ _ **EVER**_ scare me like that again—for goodness sake you're covered in **_blood_**!"

Ushio looked down guiltily.

"Um…" the cop looked to the two. "Are you Mr. Okazaki?"

He nodded, his expression becoming neutral. "Yes I am her father."

The cop looked back at the now taped off crime scene. "Your daughter put up quite the fight…tore a man's throat out so cleanly you would've thought it was a professional."

Her father looked like he was starting to hyperventilate again and Ushio sighed.

"Touyomo?"

Ushio smiled as her friend's eyes finally opened. "…w…what…? Where am I…?"

"You're in the hospital," she replied, taking his hand. "You got shot twice in the leg, but you'll live and walk like normal. I killed the guy who shot you…I think…"

Touyomo's eyes bulged open as he sat up. "You _what_!?"

"I-I'm pretty sure it was the one who shot you," she continued, "Yeah, it was him."

"…you scare me," he replied after a while, "I didn't know you could handle a gun."

Ushio blinked. "I can't, not well anyway. I slit his throat with a knife."

Touyomo leaned away from her, eyes wide.

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused. "He shot you _twice_! He deserved it…"

She pouted, and Touyomo lasted a full minute before he burst into laughter. "You're impossible…"

Her heart fluttered as he laughed. Despite everything, he could still smile.


End file.
